Senator Slotkin Criticizes Trump’s Tactics Against Drug Traffickers
Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin has expressed her strong disapproval of President Donald Trump’s recent actions targeting alleged drug traffickers across the Caribbean and Pacific regions. Her remarks were made during an address at the Brookings Institute on Wednesday.
The Trump administration has been focusing on intercepting small boats suspected of transporting illegal narcotics from South America to the United States. These operations, according to the administration, have resulted in several fatalities. More details on these actions can be found here.
Slotkin, a Democrat, has raised concerns about the lack of transparency in identifying which groups are being targeted by these strikes. “Whatever our differences are these days, I think it’s safe to say, that the American people deserve to know who we are at war with…especially if people are being killed in our name,” Slotkin emphasized.
The senator also expressed apprehension that similar methods might be employed by Trump against political adversaries within the United States. “If he’s willing to use lethal force against enemies abroad…what’s stopping him using lethal force against enemies here at home,” she remarked, adding, “That question should chill every American to the bone.”
Slotkin accused President Trump of having a singular objective: “making sure that he and his ilk never have to give up power.” She is not the only one voicing such concerns. Senator Jack Reed, the senior Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, also criticized Trump for involving the military in his political endeavors. Reed warned that this could undermine public trust in the military.
“Once the military becomes politicized, it loses the trust of the American people. A military seen as serving a political party cannot claim to serve the nation,” Reed stated, urging his Republican colleagues to oppose Trump’s rare moves to merge military actions with political objectives.
In related developments, the deployment of National Guard troops in the Chicago area is temporarily halted. The U.S. Supreme Court has delayed the Trump administration’s plans to deploy these troops to support its immigration enforcement efforts, pending further legal briefings due by November 17. This delay follows a lower court’s decision that blocked the deployment from Illinois and Texas, and the Supreme Court’s inaction on the administration’s emergency appeal suggests no immediate changes.
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